Food Fix: Pasta primavera hits the spot

COOKIE Monster, arguably one of the world's most gastronomes, calls them "sometimes" foods. The sweets and treats and other calorie-laden snacks, that we should only have every now and again. It's pretty easy to identify most of these foods, the chips, chocolates, salty and fried extravaganza and, of course, cookies of the supermarket aisles and dinner menus. But others foods hover somewhere between occasionally and more often. This recipe is one of them.

It's based around pasta - one tick if you give yourself the recommended serving size of 1 cup of cooked pasta - plus zucchini and the peas - tick, tick for the vegetables. But then it becomes a little tricky because of the cream and cheese. So, while we highly recommend this rich little recipe, keep it for special occasions and add a big and virtuous green salad to balance it all out.

Pasta primavera

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Skills: Basic

375g dried farfalle pasta

1 cup frozen peas

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

1 cup pure cream

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind

1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, following packet directions, until tender, adding peas for the last 3 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and zucchini. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until zucchini is just tender. Add cream, mustard, lemon rind and 2 tablespoons parmesan to pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until combined and heated through.

Add pasta mixture to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve with remaining parmesan.